That Was Then, This Is Now
by Zip Goes A Million
Summary: Tracking the lost months of Mary's pregnancy that we were never shown on screen.
1. A sunrise to mark a new beginning

**Chapter 1: A sunrise to mark a new beginning**

The curtains were opened and the sun glared into Mary and Matthew's room. Mary didn't open her eyes, in fear of being dazzled by the morning light, but she turned herself in such a way that she could bury herself in Matthew's side. She pulled the covers up over her some more and blearily opened her eyes. Anna came in first thing every morning, and every morning the two of them woke up to the sound of her heels on the floor, or of the tray being put down at their bedside, but not this time. Matthew had woken even before Anna walked in the room and had spent his time thinking about all sorts of things – life, his wife, books, work, the plan for the day – and looking at Mary, realising how much he loved her, but Mary had slept through all of that and woke up only to the gorgeous, not-particularly-English sunrise that had found a way to her through closed eyes. She had opened her eyes long enough to see the remarkable colour of light on the bed, but had closed them immediately when she decided it was far too bright to see first thing in the morning. Matthew turned his head and pressed a kiss into Mary's hair and said, "Morning." Mary replied with a smile that Matthew couldn't see and ran a soft hand over his chest. Matthew put his hand over hers and squeezed it gently. "Mary," he said, waiting for a reply before going on. She just managed to mumble back, sleepily,

"Mmm?"

"Look at the sunrise," he said, in awe of the beauty of it.

"I can't," Mary muttered. "It's too bright; I can't cope."

"Don't be so grumpy! It's glorious. You'll be sorry if you miss it." Matthew squeezed her hand as gentle encouragement to take a look. Mary reluctantly pushed herself up, letting Matthew do the same, but grumbled while doing so. She sat up and leant against Matthew. He put an arm around her back, lovingly. She rubbed her eyes to force them to deal with the sun and pulled together her thoughts enough to be able to look out of the window. Her jaw dropped gradually, without her realising. She was completely star-struck. The last time she'd seen a sunrise that wonderful in England had been before the war; before the Titanic went down; probably even before her engagement to Patrick. All that time had passed since then, but it was the one morning that stuck in her memory more than any other. But this sunrise was even better in a way – maybe because she had Matthew, or maybe because it was genuinely a more remarkable sunrise, but she was in complete astonishment. The rays of light wound their way through the branches and leaves of the trees. They set an orangey, magical light on the grass, lighting up the dew from the night, making the grass sparkle everywhere, as if it had been sprinkled with thousands of tiny diamonds. The birds were jumping around on the grass and flying from one tree to the next, singing their songs beautifully. The light was gorgeous and made Mary, Matthew and Anna happy to be alive. All three of them were anticipating a good day ahead. Mary stared at it, trying to take everything in. To wake up and have something with that level of beauty stare her in the face was not a normal occurrence. Matthew, although astounded by the magnificent wonder of it, was less struck by it – he had been up for half an hour or so and had had time to let his eyes adjust themselves, and anyway, he could never think of a sunrise as more beautiful and elegant than his wife. Mary wanted to be outside and see it through thin air and not through a less-than-perfectly-clean window. She wanted it to stay like that forever, but knew it would only stay in her memory. She, Matthew and Anna all knew that the sun would move and time would roll on and leave the view in the past. But they kept their eyes on it for as long as they could. Matthew kissed through Mary's hair again and said, "Glad I made you look at it now?" Anna smirked to herself, as Mary turned in bed and shot him a look as if to say, _Oh, alright, perhaps you were right this time, but you don't need to mock me, thank you!_, before giving him a kiss as a 'good morning'. After a few minutes Matthew left to get dressed and have breakfast, while Mary stayed in bed. Anna placed the tray over Mary's legs and Mary ate slowly and not very much. She wasn't particularly hungry and was spending her time looking at the sunrise, but then, so was Anna.

"When was the last time English nature gave us something like that?" Mary said, not taking her eyes off the garden, but aiming the question at her maid.

"I don't think it ever has given us anything so beautiful, Milady," Anna replied, as Mary threw back her covers and walked over to the window.

"Perhaps not. But it makes you happy, doesn't it?" Mary asked, knowing that the answer from anyone with working sight would be 'yes'.

"Yes. Very happy." Soon enough Mary was getting dressed, but even then she didn't stop gawping at the light until the sun was up enough just to be a normal morning sun in the cloudless sky of the English countryside. And even then, the sun had something about it. It was not a normal morning. There was certainly some gorgeous quality within the air.

Mary was soon down the stairs and walking into the drawing room with a skip in her step and a new energy about her. Normally she'd look for Matthew, but on this occasion she didn't really care about who she'd find. Instead she was just wandering aimlessly and rather happily. "Morning, Mary," Edith said as she walked into the room.

"Yes, it is rather good, isn't it?" Mary replied with a smile.

"Did you see the sunrise?" Tom asked – aimed at both women.

"Yes," they said together, both looking rather happy.

"It was rather impressive," Mary continued.

"I agree," said Tom, "It was absolutely stunning. I've never seen one like it. Even less so at this time of year. We never had them to quite that level in Ireland when I was there."

"Well, we don't here, normally," Edith stated, "But it means we relish it when we do get one as wonderful as the one this morning," she turned to her sister and asked, "Are we still riding this morning?"

"I don't see a reason why not," Mary said in high spirits, "But I want to write some letters before we go, so you probably won't see me much until we're off." Mary smiled and let Tom and Edith keep chatting and headed back upstairs to write those few letters. Matthew saw her going up the stairs from the hall and said to her from below,

"Where are you going. You've only just come down, haven't you?"

"Yes, but I don't know why I did. It was a sort of spur-of-the-moment decision. Anyway, I want to write some letters before I go riding with Edith."

"You never told me you were going riding," Matthew said, not complaining, but simply pointing out a fact.

"Didn't I?" Matthew shook his head and Mary continued. "Oh. Well, never mind. I'm going, regardless of what you think."

"I'm glad to see I influence your life so much," Matthew said, mocking his wife, as she began again to climb the stairs.

"You do influence my life 'so much'! I love you," Mary called back as she made her way up to the top of the stairs. Matthew continued into the library, looking for a new book to read. He often found Robert in the library when he ever went in, but he wasn't there this morning. Robert had gone to have a look at one of the cottages on the estate, so Matthew was alone in the library. It was the first time in all the time he'd spent in that room that he realised how large it was; and quite how empty it seemed with nobody there. He started browsing the endless shelves, completely unsure of what genre of book he might like to read. He wasn't in the mood for reading extracts of multiple books to see if it would intrigue him – he just wanted to get on with reading, so he spotted _The Metamorphosis_ by Franz Kafka, a book which he'd read a million times before, and began to read it again. He knew everything that would happen. He practically knew the first few pages off by heart, but it didn't hinder his love for the story. He knew that Mary wanted to be locked away, so he sat in the library, away from the noise of Edith and Tom (and probably soon to be Cora as well) having a general gossip. He found himself a comfortable position and read. He could have been there for the entire day and finished the book. It was not a short book, but was not one that would take days of constant reading to get through. But due to the fact that he'd read it so many times before – over and over again, he read it even quicker than he would a book he'd never laid eyes on before. He knew what would come up next at every point, but the book was still one of his favourites of all time. He was a fair way through it – for the amount of time he'd been reading it, when he was interrupted by Tom, who said at the door,

"Do you fancy going to have a look at one of the cottages with Robert? Sorry to interrupt your reading, but I did say we'd meet him, and I sort of forgot to mention it to you."

"In that case, I think I ought to come with you. The wrong side of Robert is not a good place to be. And it doesn't matter about the book. I've read it countless times before," he said, as he got up, left the book on the table with a bookmark marking where he'd stopped and began walking out of the room. "Let me just go and tell Mary I'm leaving, and then I'll be ready to go," he said, as he headed towards the stairs.

"I'll wait for you outside the front door then," Tom called after him, wishing he still had Sybil to inform of his departure from the house. It seemed that the little things is what got him so emotional about her. He missed her more on the little things, like not being there to share news with on a good day, or not being there to tell, 'I love you' (the fact that he thought it wasn't enough – he wanted to be able to tell her face to face), than on the bigger things, like not being there in bed, or not being there at Christmas – he'd got used to these over time. Matthew got upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. A voice calling,

"Come in," came from behind the door, so Matthew did so. Mary was just finishing getting changed to go on her ride with Edith. Anna was just leaving when Mary said, "Hello, darling,"

"Hello," Matthew replied, and gave her a quick kiss. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to the other side of the estate with Tom to talk about one of the cottages, so I may not be here when you and Edith get back from your ride."

"Alright. Will you be back for lunch?"

"That's a good point. Err, probably not, come to think of it. I'll get Tom and your father to agree to get lunch with me in the village," Matthew realised, as he made a mental note.

"I'll tell them downstairs before I leave then, shall I? On your behalf," Mary teased, with a smile on her face.

"Would you? Thank you ever so much. I love you, Mary. My darling, darling wife." Matthew gave her another kiss, but a much more elongated one this time. His lips didn't break contact with hers as they danced their tongues together, softly... lovingly... passionately... and tenderly. Mary broke the bond between them when she realised that if somebody didn't break it then they'd be together like that all day. She completed it with,

"I love you." Matthew simply smiled at the comment, gave her another peck and hurried out of the door, remembering that Tom was waiting for him out of the front of the house. He hurried down the stairs and walked out of the house to find Tom stroking the nose of Diamond, Mary's horse, and talking to Edith, who was already mounted on her own horse. Matthew saw that Edith was waiting and said,

"Mary will be out in a minute. She wants to talk to Mrs. Patmore for 30 seconds, but she'll be out any minute."

"That's fine. I can wait. I wouldn't if it was raining, but how can I not enjoy waiting in weather like this?"

"Well then, we'll leave you to it," Matthew replied. Tom left Edith and the horses in the capable hands of two of the groomsmen and was off, talking to Matthew about the cottage as soon as they were no longer staring at horses.

Meanwhile, inside Mary was now downstairs, but she had no luck in finding Mrs. Patmore. Instead she just saw Bates and said to him, "Bates, I need to go, and I can't find Mrs. Patmore, so could you possibly tell her that Lord Grantham, Mr. Crawley and Mr. Branson have said they'd get lunch in the village, as they'll be on the other side of the estate anyway."

"Of course, Milady," Bates replied, nodding his head slightly.

"Thank you, Bates." She left swiftly and ran out to Edith. The groomsmen helped Mary onto Diamond and Edith and Mary started chatting – as friends – as they walked off onto one of the many patches of bright grass that looked like it belonged in some exotic country. Over the past week or so Edith and Mary really had become very close friends. Neither one of them knew why, but they had, and they were being kind enough to each other that Mary had told Edith and no one else – not even Matthew – that she thought she might be pregnant. "Come on, Mary, you can't wait forever; when are you planning to find out if you actually _are_ pregnant?" Edith asked, but it didn't sound pushy at all, but friendly. They were words of encouragement, rather than words of force.

"I'm going to see Doctor Clarkson this afternoon, but I don't know how I can get Matthew to not be suspicious. I can't think of a good excuse for going into Ripon this afternoon," Mary pondered aloud, posing the question to her sister, to see if she had a good idea of what to say.

"Well, why do you want to keep it from him anyway?" Edith asked, not helping Mary's case, but asking a question that Mary hadn't really asked herself. Mary hesitated before saying,

"Well; I suppose I just don't want to get his hopes up too much. He's wanted to hear me say the words, 'I'm pregnant' since our wedding night. I don't want to get him excited for no reason – just to have those hopes destroyed."

"He won't thank you for it," Edith said. "If you are, then he would want to be there to find out at the same time as you. I can come with you into Ripon, if you really want me to. I can say that we just needed a walk together – some sisterly time alone, but I really think it'd be best if you went with Matthew." Mary didn't reply, so Edith said, "Why don't I leave you to think about it, and just come and tell me what you've decided later." Mary smiled to say, 'Thank you for being so understanding', but then Edith said, "But, if you decide to go with Matthew then you'd better let me be the first to know what the verdict is!" The two of them laughed as Mary said,

"Of course I will! Well, after Doctor Clarkson, Matthew and I!" They decided to canter around for a bit, but after a few minutes Diamond jumped sideways and reared up and Mary fell off. Edith screamed Mary's name, and asked after her welfare, to which Mary replied, "I think I'm fine, actually, Edith." She didn't get up for a few seconds. She sat up and rubbed her thigh, realising that it'd be bruised, but when she saw that she wasn't seriously injured she got up and quickly grabbed Diamond's reigns. He'd got over himself and was standing patiently, waiting for something to happen. Mary realised that she'd be stiff the next morning and probably that afternoon too.

"Are you certain you're alright?" Edith asked again, trying to be sure.

"Yes, I think so. My leg's going to be bruised, and I think probably my shoulder as well, but I'll be fine. Did you notice anything in Diamond's hooves?"

"No. And it still doesn't look like anything has hurt him. Maybe he just spooked at something."

"Maybe," Mary said, but she didn't get back on him. "I might just walk him back," she said to Edith. Mary started walking with Diamond, and Edith remained mounted along side, but Edith mentioned Diamond's state,

"Mary, he's grazed all up the side of one leg, and he's limping on that foot." Mary looked around and noticed what he'd done.

"Oh dear. How did that happen?"

"Maybe he spooked at a robin and grazed his leg as he jumped sideways," Edith suggested.

"Maybe," Mary said, not convinced, "But he's normally fine around birds. It's wind that tends to get him jumpy."

"Well then maybe he stepped on something?" Edith wondered.

"I don't know, but I need to get him back to the stables." Mary and Edith walked slowly back to the stables. Usually they'd go to the front of the house and wait for the stable hands to come to them, but instead they went straight to the stables. They were closer and it was certain that there would be somebody who knew a thing or two about horses there. When they arrived, Edith hopped off and one of the stable boys came out to take her horse away from her, but as he turned to leave Edith said,

"Could you fetch someone who knows about treating grazes, please?" The boy nodded and sent for someone more senior. A man arrived. He'd been looking after Mary's and Edith's horses since they were girls. He knew more about horses than anyone they knew.

"Leave him with me," he said to Mary. "He'll be fine, but that will need to heal before he can get ridden again, I'm afraid." Mary nodded and said,

"Not surprising, really. Thank you so much." She and Edith walked back to the house, Mary complaining of aches the whole way there. They got the house and the pair of them got changed and reunited back down in the drawing room.

* * *

_Tell me if you like it! I was just really annoyed that they skipped a whole year and that we never got the joy of seeing Mary tell Matthew that they're expecting, so I decided that I could try to get rid of some of that anger by writing a story for it - here's the result of that thinking._


	2. The value of love

**Chapter 2: The value of love**

It wasn't long before Cora had arrived and Carson was telling them that lunch was ready. Since the men of the house had deserted them, it was just the ladies together, which they didn't get very often. Once they were sitting down and had started eating, Cora said, "You two are being awfully quiet today. What are you keeping from me?" Of course, both Edith and Mary knew perfectly well that they were keeping the fact the Mary could possibly be pregnant away from their mother, but they both knew that they wanted to keep that fact away from her for as long as possible – at least until Mary knew the verdict and could tell Cora herself. Edith protected Mary, whom she could tell was beginning to get quite agitated, wondering what to say without causing suspicion. She said, "Nothing, mama. Mary just fell off Diamond this morning when we out riding, that's all." Mary said 'Thank you' to Edith through her eyes, looking at her in relief, while Cora said,

"'That's all?' What do you mean? Why didn't you tell me you'd fallen off? Are you alright?" Mary looked at her mother, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes.

"I didn't tell you because it doesn't matter. I've bruised my leg, that's all. It's not going to kill me, mama. I'm not a child, I can deal with my own life." Edith said nothing, but thought to herself, _Good going! Speak up for yourself!_ Cora clearly felt offended by this when she said,

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was a crime to look out for my eldest daughter." This seemed to pull a heart string on Mary's side. She remembered the real reason why she was less-than-talkative and immediately apologised for being so harsh to her mother. She knew there would come a time at some point in her life – even if it was in a good few years – when she'd be a mother herself. She had only realised since suspecting her own pregnancy what her mother had been through thirty years previously. She was beginning to find a new found respect for her mother that she never knew she could have. She'd never realised what children could do to emotions, but now she was experiencing it herself and her eyes were being opened to a different kind of life. It wasn't long before the three women were talking as they normally would, forgetting about the short-lived dispute between mother and daughter.

Cora didn't stay around for long once they'd finished lunch. She went to see Isobel at Crawley house, so Mary and Edith were left to their own devices. "You're right, I should just tell Matthew and have him come with me to see Doctor Clarkson," Mary agreed with her sister.

"Do you know when he'll be back?" Edith asked.

"No, but he shouldn't be too long, now. I'd be surprised if he weren't back in time for me to tell him and for us to walk to the village."

"You're planning on walking?" Edith asked, rather surprised.

"Yes, it's a gorgeous day, and I think I'll need the fresh air, anyway. And walking will give the pair of us more time to think," Mary said.

"More time to think about what?" Edith replied, beginning to get a little harsh now.

"Oh, I don't know, but no doubt Matthew will try to protect me from everything and I'll have to try and calm him down, and I know enough about him to know that it will take longer than a car journey to get him thinking straight again."

"I suppose," Edith said, in a softer and more understanding way. As if on cue, Mary saw Carson walking past the door of the sitting room, walking towards the front door. It took mere seconds for Mary to realise that Matthew, Tom and Robert were probably back. Mary and Edith both knew that Mary's appointment with Doctor Clarkson wasn't for an hour or so, but that once Mary had told Matthew about the possibility of a child on the way, that the hour would go remarkably quickly. Mary froze, but Edith walked over to her, hugged her and said quietly, "I'll send Matthew in to talk to you and I'll get out of your way." Mary smiled at her sister's kind words, but inside was screaming with both fear and elation. Mary stood completely motionless and Edith walked out to the great hall. She smiled at Tom, who was heading towards the stairs, probably to see his daughter, and said to Matthew, "Matthew, Mary wants to speak to you alone in the sitting room."

"Alone? Is she alright?" Matthew asked, as he put his hat on the hat stand.

"She's fine," Matthew looked at her with concern, still. "I promise! She's fine!" Edith reassured. Her father then looked at her in a similar way, which urged her to say, "I'm not lying. She really is fine! There's no need to look at me like something disastrous has happened!" Robert started walking across the hall, as Edith took a deep breath until he turned on his heel and asked,

"Do you know where your mother is, to save me from trekking around the whole house?"

"She's not here. She went to see cousin Isobel. And before you ask; no, I don't know why, and no, I don't know how long she'll be." Robert sighed, obviously thinking it typical that she happened not to be there when he needed her, but he made his way into the library anyway, planning on doing some work. Edith wasn't quite sure what to do, but decided in the end to walk around the gardens with Isis, due to the weather that she couldn't stop marvelling at.

Mary was absolutely terrified of what she'd say to Matthew, although she didn't know why. She loved him more and more every day, and knew that he wouldn't be angry or upset – perhaps speechless, but never cross with her; but even so, she was dreading him coming into the sitting room, but he did come in – quite happily at first. He entered with a smile on his face and greeted his wife with a kiss. "Edith said you wanted to speak to me," he said, holding Mary's waist, waiting for something to happen. Mary didn't protest to his touch – in fact she quite enjoyed the comfort that his warm, large hands could give her in times like this.

"Yes, I do. This afternoon I have an appointment with Doctor Clarkson at the village hospital, and I need you to come with me, because if I get any news while I'm there I want you to hear it at the same time as me." Mary had come straight out with it. She wanted to tell him straight off with no second thoughts and no need for explanation, but she hadn't planned what to say, so it only occurred to her that she hadn't mentioned anything about a pregnancy when Matthew said,

"News about what? And why are you going to the hospital anyway? You never told me something was wrong," he was beginning to sound worried, but he kept calm and didn't retract his hands from Mary's waist at all, and wasn't planning to any time soon.

"I didn't tell you anything was wrong because nothing _is_ wrong. And I'm going because I think I may be pregnant and I want you with me to hear the words when I do, whether they're what we want to hear or not." Mary's heart had slowed, and sped up at the same time. Her heart had practically stopped, yet it was pounding in her throat. She was a whirlwind of emotions inside, and she knew that Matthew was too when he did nothing but kiss her. It wasn't a quick peck on the cheek, but a full-on, _I love you and want to be with you more than I've ever wanted to be with you before!_ type kiss. And Matthew's tongue managed to push Mary's heart back down her throat, which Mary didn't object to at all. She'd completely misjudged what her husband's reaction would be. She thought he would be – well, she didn't know what he would do, but she never thought he'd give her a kiss that was quite that passionate. She broke away slowly to say, "I thought we could walk into the village instead of take the car, so we can get some fresh air?"

"Sounds perfect!" Matthew said back, agreeing completely with her suggestion. Mary really _did_ miscalculate Matthew's reaction. He kissed her again, quickly, before saying, "Why don't we start off now? When's the appointment?" Mary was completely dazzled by Matthew's ability to keep his head screwed on straight, but replied anyway with,

"The appointment's in about an hour, so I suppose we could get on our way, but I'm not really dressed for it, and if we go now, we'll get there too early and just have to wait around for ages."

"Well then, in that case, why don't you get changed now and we'll stroll around the grounds for a while before we go to Ripon?" Matthew suggested, thinking on the spot, but thinking rather logically.

"You're perfect!" Mary stated, as she gave Matthew a kiss of love and affection. Matthew returned the kiss without another word and lead Mary up the stairs, only planning to leave her once Anna had arrived, ready to help Mary change. It didn't take long for Anna to arrive in their room with a change of clothes, so Matthew paced up and down outside his bedroom door. He loved his wife, and didn't know how much until a few moments ago. It didn't actually take long at all, but to Matthew it felt like a lifetime waiting for his wife to emerge, but as soon as she did he breathed a sigh of relief. He kissed her quickly and began to walk her down the stairs and out of the front door with a protective hand around her back.

They began to weave their way in and out of trees and shrubs – find a path that nobody had taken before, that they could take together. Mary knew that they'd be taking a lot of new paths in the next decade. Why knew what the 1920s would bring to them? But, if there's one thing she knew – one thing that the 1910s had taught her, it was that she had found her true love. It had taken her years of searching, and deaths (that she _shouldn't_ have had anything to do with) and mistakes and engagements and arguments and more trials and tribulations along the way, but she had managed to find a way of re-lighting the fire between herself and her husband that never really went out, and she was glad of it. She was happier now than she thought she ever could be. And the same went for Matthew. He's the one person who she could trust. The one person that she could be sure would always like and love her. She'd only ever known one other soul who always liked her and never criticized her, but that sweet girl was Sybil, who could no longer love her elder sister. Mary often felt that Matthew was the only thing she had left in the world. Yes, she had a house and food and books and family and servants and clothes and company and horses and dogs and entertainment and never ending gardens, but when she fell in love with Matthew and finally married him, she realised that she had nothing really. All this time she had so much, but none of it meant anything because she didn't have any love before, but she'd found love. She had her Matthew, her husband; and Matthew was the one who gave her life meaning and substance of any kind. She missed him all the time. Even if it was just because she'd gone to bed earlier than he had, and had to spend some time alone, or because he'd gone to look at some cottages on the estate, she still missed him. Those little moments... when she knew he'd be back soon, or knew he'd pop his head around the door at any moment... those little moments were when she yearned for him the most. She was head-over-heels in love, like a lovesick puppy, but she didn't care. She only had eyes for him, and he only had eyes for her, and everybody knew it.

* * *

_I'm too tired to write much here, but I have enough energy to say sorry for the wait. I've been bogged down with stuff - work and horses and just stuff in general. But I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter might be a while in coming - sorry for that._


	3. An act to make a difference

**Chapter 3: An act to make a difference**

Mary and Matthew slowly began to walk to the village. It didn't take them long, even though they were dawdling because of the excitement between them, but Mary was constantly marvelling at how remarkable the light from the sun was. They walked to the village every Sunday for Church, so they knew the roads well and didn't find it difficult to navigate their way to the hospital – they'd both been there countless times before; both as visitor and patient. When they arrived they were five minutes early, which wasn't too bad, as they had set off from Downton grounds about half an hour before they arrived at the hospital, which meant they had dawdled enough to add ten or fifteen minutes to the normal journey time into the village. They were both jittery, but it seemed natural, and of course it was completely understandable. The pair of them walked into the hospital and Mary said to the receptionist, "Mrs. Crawley to see Doctor Clarkson." The receptionist quickly looked in a book to check timings and said very professionally,

"Of course, if you'd like to take a seat and the doctor will be with you shortly." Mary thanked her and walked over with Matthew close behind to sit and wait for five minutes. Mary thought she would be nervous about diagnosis, but Matthew was the jumpy one. He looked around every single time he thought he heard the click of the door or saw a reflection in the window, but mostly it was his own imagination. Matthew's leg was bouncing up and down. He was anxious and terrified and excited and thrilled and didn't know what to do with himself. The only thing he knew about pregnancy was... how it came about, the end result and what had happened to his sister-in-law, which didn't fill him with huge amounts of confidence. He didn't want to let Robert and Cora end up with two motherless grandchildren, and he refused to be left a widow. He loved his wife too much and refused to let her go due to giving birth to his first child. All of these thoughts were running through Matthew's head before he realised that Mary seemed remarkably calm. "Are you alright, Mary? You're being awfully quiet."

"I'm fine. You're the one who needs comforting, by the looks of it. Look at you! You're more worried than I am!" Mary laughed quietly, trying not to speak too loudly in the hospital.

"Mary, you know I've been wanting to hear this news for more than a year. And you know that I'm going to be worried about you for the whole time... if it's good news – and afterwards, too," Matthew said, lovingly, but with a tinge of angst in his voice.

"You're allowed to worry!" Mary said, laughing, but then added, "As long as don't worry to the extent where you get irritating. I know what you're like and I know that that's what you'll do. And anyway, you don't know that we'll hear the news we want. I could easily be suspecting something for no reason." Matthew was about to tell Mary why he was anticipating good news regardless, but Doctor Clarkson walked out and asked for Mary to come in. He suggested it would probably be best for Matthew to wait outside, so he did. Although he was reluctant, he knew and trusted Doctor Clarkson enough to agree to it. He couldn't sit still though. He paced up and down, tried to sit by the window, tried to sit by the door, but in the end decided to get up and say to the receptionist,

"I'm going outside for some fresh air. If my wife comes out, could you please tell her where I am?" The receptionist nodded politely, with a smile of sympathy, knowing that all men who came in with Matthew's situation were the same. When Matthew got outside he still couldn't keep still. He sat on a bench under the shade of a large Beech tree for a while, but had to get up and keep moving somehow. So he paced up and down again, constantly getting worried about what might be happening inside with Mary. He tried to distract himself by thinking of how Mary would probably be complaining internally about missing this glorious sunshine, and how the birds were talking to each other, but whatever he did, he couldn't stop thinking about how Mary was inside – less than fifty metres away from him, being examined to check if she was pregnant. He couldn't stop thinking about it, and it felt like a lifetime, but soon Mary was out and smiling from ear to ear. Matthew was looking at her expectantly, but all she could do was nod and start crying again. Matthew didn't need her to speak, though. He knew instantly that the doctor had confirmed Mary's suspicions. Despite it being improper, he still swung Mary around in his arms as he had done when they'd got engaged. He kissed her and very nearly started crying himself. They stayed in each other's embrace for a couple of minutes, every so often, Matthew wiping away Mary's tears, but it really wasn't long before the two of them were walking back home, neither of them able to wipe the joy from their faces.

All the way Mary was telling Matthew what Doctor Clarkson had said until they got to the narrower, lesser used roads and walkways that were used by pedestrians and cyclists only. As soon as the main mass of people in Ripon could no longer see them – when they were round the corner of a narrow pathway – Matthew put his arm protectively around her back and they continued to make their way back to their house and home. Their expressions said it all. Matthew hadn't cried, but his eyes had watered and Mary's cheeks were still damp anyway from her own tears of joy. She was scared – Matthew wasn't the only one that knew what had happened to Sybil. Mary was terrified that the same thing could happen to her, but she tried not to think of it too much – she knew it was pointless to fill herself with doubt now and have to deal with it for months to come. They were both so full of bliss that neither one of them knew what to do with themselves. The two of them had never felt like this before and were trying to feel their way through their emotions. "So, we're finally making our Prince!" Matthew said, completely ecstatic at the news. They were nearly home, but that didn't stop him from talking about it.

"Or princess. There's no way of telling. We'll have to wait a while for that!" Mary laughed back and put her own arm around Matthew, showing her affections towards him. "I love you," she said, stopping to give Matthew a kiss. They were less than a hundred metres away from the entrance to the grounds of Downton, so they knew they'd have to tell their family sooner or later. They started walking again, and as they entered the grounds of the Downton estate, Mary said, "Oh, I told Edith that I'd let her be the first to know about it." Matthew replied with,

"That's fine. And you two seem to be getting on very well – much better than normal. Has something happened that I don't know about? Nobody's died in Edith's bed this time, have they?" Mary laughed at Matthew's reference to Mr. Pamuk dying in her own bed. She had forgotten about that – not thought of it for such a long time.

"No! Nobody's died in her bed, believe it or not! She has her eyes fixed on that journalist."

"You can't just call him 'that journalist'! That's not proper, Mary! Oh, and, while we're on the subject, how long _do_ we have to wait?" Matthew retorted.

"Well, the doctor said that I'm about three months gone and that I'll start to show soon... and who said I need to be proper!" Mary replied, beginning to get bold, but Matthew just kissed her and said,

"I love you, Lady Mary Crawley." Mary was about to reply when she caught sight of Edith walking towards them. Edith suspected by the kiss the couple had just shared that the news was good, so was trying to suppress her smile just in case it was a kiss of sympathy rather than of joy. But Mary smiled at her and nodded and Edith knew then that the verdict had been what both she, Mary and Matthew had wanted to hear. Edith ran up to her and gave her elder sister a hug, which they hadn't done since Sybil died. They were constantly becoming more and more like best friends rather than like fighting cats and dogs, even though they both knew that _something_ would happen and they'd be back to their old quarrelling selves, but they each wanted to make the most of it while they still could. Edith came out of the hug and smiled at her sister, soon turning to smile at her brother-in-law.

"Oh, Mary!" Edith said, with a smile plastered on her face, wrapping her arms around her sister again. "When are you going to tell the others?" Mary looked at Matthew, asking the same question to him through her eyes, so Matthew answered for her.

"Well, why not now?" Mary simply smiled, as if to say, 'No reason' and the two of them kept walking towards the house, with Edith continuing in the other direction – walking around the grounds, attempting to avoid being the third wheel to Mary and Matthew's time together.

It didn't take long for Mary and Matthew to get to the front door of the house. Thomas answered the door – temporarily taking the place of Mr. Carson while he was out in the village. It was a little of a surprise to Mary, as she had spent her entire life with Carson answering her front door. Of course, the door had been answered to Mary by Thomas, Bates, Mrs. Hughes, and when staff levels were low, even by housemaids, but it was still programmed into her brain that Carson is the one who answers her front door. And anyway, she still hadn't got it out of her head completely that Thomas was now, technically, meant to be called Barrow, and was on practically the same level as Bates. Despite the fact that she was taken aback, she didn't show it, but was quite civil to Thomas... or rather Barrow and thanked him for answering the door. Mary instantly went upstairs to get changed from her 'going out' clothes. She got in and rang for Anna. She waited patiently for her to come up, but took off her hat and gloves before her maid arrived to tend her. She knew it was about 4:30 in the evening, so knew that her sister would soon be in for afternoon tea, as would her mother. When Anna arrived she carried out her duties as per usual – without a hitch – and engaged in her normal conversation, "Was it nice in the village? The weather's stayed perfect."

"Yes, it was wonderful. A little nippy, but otherwise it couldn't have been made a better trip."

"Glad to hear it," Anna replied with a smile, slightly suspicious about what she had gone into the village to do. Mary knew that Anna probably knew, bearing in mind that she dealt with her underwear. It had been three months, which made sense to Mary, and probably to Anna too, and despite how highly Mary thought of Anna, she was reluctant to confirm her thoughts until her own family knew.

* * *

_I know I've been making you wait for this chapter for forever, and I'm truly sorry about that, but I've been very busy with school-work and I've been utterly knackered recently, and I know that hardly any of you will, but if you can spare the time or have anything worthwhile to say, please leave a comment. Thank you._


	4. This is just the beginning

**Chapter 4: This is just the beginning**

In a short amount of time, Mary was changed for the afternoon, and downstairs having afternoon tea with her sister, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother. She wasn't aware that her grandmother or mother-in-law were going to be in her house, so asked after a while, "Sorry, err, why are you here?"

"Haven't you been listening, Mary? We've just been discussing this," Cora asked, somewhat accusingly.

"Sorry... I have other things on my mind."

"Like what?" Edith asked, returning slightly to her normal state of arguing with her sibling.

"Well what do you think?" Mary retorted quickly, cutting off all chances of that conversation going any further.

"Mary, dear, Isobel and I are here because we wanted to talk to your mother about the money in the future," Violet said, losing Mary's interest.

"Oh, yeah, I did know that, come to think of it. I think Matthew mentioned it yesterday." Mary put down her cup and saucer and said, "I'll leave you to it. I'm going to go and find Matthew."

"Why? What conversation can he offer you that we can't?" Edith called after her, once she was already half way across the room. Mary didn't look back, but hollered with a smile,

"You'd be surprised!"

As she left the room, she knew that Matthew would probably be in the library – either reading a book or doing some work for the estate. Mary headed that way and found him reading a book in a lonely room with golden light streaming through the window, lighting up his book. Matthew heard her heels on the wooden floor and turned around to see her. He could see that his wife was troubled – it was written all over her face, so he got up, walked around the end of the settee and held her waist for comfort. "Don't you want any tea?" Mary asked, knowing that Matthew was very fond of it, but Matthew dismissed it and quickly changed the subject,

"No, I'm not thirsty, and what's the matter?" Mary instantly knew that Matthew had seen straight through her and knew that she was going to have to fess up to her worries. Mary just looked down at her feet. "Come on, sit down," Matthew gestured, and so she did. They sat next to each other and Mary explained,

"Why don't we go and tell everyone now? Everyone's here. Nobody's on the other side of the estate. Granny's here, and so is your mother, and I see no reason to delay. And Edith knows, and I'm pretty certain that Anna knows about it anyway."

"How does Anna... don't worry, stupid question," Matthew interrupted himself, realising that Anna probably suspected it before Mary, herself. "Well, let's do it then. We'd have to get Tom and your father into the drawing room, but yes, there's no reason why not. Why don't you go back into the drawing room and I'll fetch them?" Matthew suggested. To which Mary confirmed with,

"I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, but I love you more than you love me. I can guarantee it!"

"Willing to bet on it?" Mary asked, having some fun with the moment and making it into a laughing matter, but before Matthew could say anything, Mary looked up at him and gave him a kiss – just to warn him that if he wanted to keep his money his own then he'd be wiser to refuse the bet. Once they'd parted Matthew said, "I love you." They got up together and walked out hand in hand to the hall, where the two of them made their separate ways. Mary headed back to the drawing room and began to actually take part in the conversations instead of just listening in and looking bored, and Matthew went up the stairs to find Tom with little Sybil.

"I thought Matthew offered better conversation than us?" Edith challenged Mary once she'd sat back down.

"He does," Mary replied. "He'll be here in a minute."

"I thought I saw him reading, though," Cora wondered aloud. Mary then said,

"You did, but now he's not." That moment, Tom walked in with Sybbie on his hip. She laughed as she saw her family, and suddenly the concept of intelligent conversation went out the window. All attention went straight to Sybbie and it was clear that she loved being in the spotlight. Although she didn't have a mother, she had a father who loved her more than he thought possible, and both Mary and Edith who loved her as their own. It wasn't long before Robert came in, closely followed by Matthew, greeted by the distinct laugh of a small child. Mary walked over to Matthew and let him put his arm around her back and rest his hand between her waist and hip. After Sybbie had given Robert a classic Sybbie-style welcome, he turned to Matthew and said,

"Right then, what was it you wanted?" Everyone turned to Mary and Matthew – the ladies not knowing that they wanted anything – and Mary looked up at Matthew as he told everyone the news,

"Yes, right, of course. Mary and I just thought we'd tell everyone, as we are all together – in the same place at the same time – that we were given some information this morning that we think you all should know." As Matthew said this, Edith was trying desperately to suppress a grin as wide as the Amazon river. Mary could feel Matthew's nerves and stepped ever so slightly closer to him, but took some of the pressure off him by finishing the announcement herself,

"We went to see Doctor Clarkson this afternoon and he confirmed that I'm pregnant." Everyone then reacted differently; Edith gave her another great squeeze, Robert shook Matthew's hand, Tom smiled and nodded at Matthew (he would have gone over and given him a pat on the back, but there seemed to be too many people around him, and Tom was also holding Sybbie), Isobel didn't know what to do with herself and was utterly speechless, Cora was smiling from ear to ear and gave Mary a very motherly hug straight after Edith and although Violet didn't say anything, she was clearly over the moon.

Of course, naturally everybody wanted to know the details, and Mary gave all the details she knew, but she was pleased when she found a way to slip away without a word. Matthew followed not long after. The two of them headed up to their bedroom together, hand in hand. Once they got there, Mary just collapsed on the bed. Matthew joined her, lying next to his wife lovingly. Neither of them were there to sleep, but Mary needed a break from the excitement of the day. The poor woman was exhausted from all the activities of the day. She was surprised that she'd managed to fit so much in; a ride, lunch, a walk around the grounds followed by a trip into Ripon, afternoon tea, relaying information, and with supper still to come. She'd got to the point where she needed to be alone with her husband to get away from the uproar of her family. Mary lay on the bed, with her head resting on Matthew's chest, listening to his soothing heart beat. Mary had her hand laid on Matthew's stomach, as he moved his hand up and down her arm, just as a way of letting her know of his love for her. Although neither one of them were planning on sleeping, it wasn't long before they both nodded off. They were only woken by Anna coming in with Mary's dress draped over her arm. Mary opened her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position, soon followed by Matthew. "What time is it, Anna?" she asked, genuinely having no idea how long she'd been asleep.

"I'm not sure, but I know we're running late and that if we're not quick they'll have to delay supper.

"Oh gosh! Have we really been asleep all that time?" Matthew asked. Mary and he got up and walked to the foot of the bed. Mary gave Matthew a quick kiss before saying to him,

"You'd better go. Bates will be waiting for you." Matthew walked out of the room, still not quite as alert and awake as he should have been.

Anna began to get Mary changed, which Mary was grateful for. Sometimes Mary didn't see the point in somebody else dressing her, but at that moment loved having someone to do all the work for her. She was knackered and needed all the help she could get. Then Mary suddenly remembered that she wanted to tell Anna about the pregnancy, "Oh, and Anna," she began, as Anna walked across the room to fetch Mary's shoes, "Well, actually, I'm almost certain you thought about it before I did, but we went to see Doctor Clarkson today and he confirmed it for us. I'm pregnant." Anna then squealed a little and hugged Mary, which was unbelievable unprofessional, but neither one of them cared. When your servant has helped you carry a dead body back to the guest room from your bedroom where he shouldn't have been in the first place, it's quite tricky to have a strictly professional relationship. Anna and Mary finished up, both smiling remarkably much and chatting in an extremely happy and friendly manner. When Mary left her room after changing her earrings and necklace she found Matthew waiting for her outside the door. They descended the stairs hand in hand and began talking about how they could have missed so much of the day.

Once they were downstairs it wasn't long before everyone went into the dining room and supper was well underway. Maybe three quarters of an hour or so after they'd all walked into the dining room Robert decided to make a toast. "I propose a toast to the new generation," he remarked, which was met with,

"The new generation!" by everybody else. After such good news Violet and Isobel had decided to stay, even though neither were dressed appropriately for the evening. The meal went rather quickly and nothing particularly eventful happened, but neither Mary nor Matthew decided to stay around at the end. Both decided that they were too tired to do anything other than sleep, so both went upstairs and both were soon attended to by Anna and Bates. Mr. Bates congratulated Matthew on the baby, which Matthew was surprised at,

"Oh, does everybody know downstairs?" he asked.

"No, Mr. Crawley. I believe Lady Mary told Anna, and I think I'm the only other person who knows," Bates replied.

"Oh, well, in that case, thank you very much. Surely it won't be too long before I'm saying the same to you?" Matthew said. Bates chuckled,

"I think it may be some time for us!"

Anna and Bates soon made themselves invisible again and Mary and Matthew got under the covers, and with Matthew wrapping his arm around Mary's shoulders and Mary resting her head in the crook of his arm, the two of them soon fell asleep without another word.

* * *

_I'm so sorry! I know I've been making you wait for more than a month, which I'm kind of ashamed about. I started writing this chapter right back when I finished the last one, but I then left it for ages, without intention to. And then I finished it last night and my internet crashed so I couldn't upload. I'm so sorry! I hope you're still enjoying this. I think my writing for this story has got worse, but oh well. If you can, please leave a comment, but considering that I haven't uploaded it ages I think I could forgive you if you don't leave any comment at all._


	5. Childhood Memories

**Chapter 5: Childhood memories**

The next morning Anna came in to Mary and Matthew's bedroom to find them both already semi-awake, which surprised her as she knew that the two of them had gone to bed remarkably early the night before. "Morning, Anna," Mary said, really rather cheerfully.

"Good morning, Milady," Anna replied, obediently.

"Oh, actually," Mary began, talking to Matthew, continuing their conversation from before Anna came in, "I think I'll go and see Diamond and ask how he's doing."

"What's wrong with Diamond? You rode him yesterday, didn't you?"

"Well, I rode him for most of the time I was out. I did spend some of it on the floor, though."

"How come you didn't tell me you were hurt?" Matthew asked anxiously.

"Because I'm not! I bruised my leg ever so slightly, but it doesn't hurt and I'm still alive, aren't I?" Mary asked, jokingly. "I don't know what happened, but he jumped sideways, reared up and somehow grazed his leg. And in all that I fell off..." Mary trailed off.

"Well, as long as you're alright, I should probably be off." Matthew kissed Mary quickly and left the room. As soon as the door was shut and Mary knew that Matthew was well on his way to his dressing room, Mary stood up and took Anna by the hand. Her smile widened, as did Anna's once she suspected what was about to be said.

"Doctor Clarkson's confirmed it! Sybbie's got a cousin on the way!" Mary squealed very quietly. Anna also let out a particularly high pitched sound of congratulations. Anna and Mary simultaneously stepped closer to one another and each held out their arms. Hierarchy flew out the window and the only thing to stop their excitement was the roar of thunder. "Gosh, how does the weather do that? It was gorgeous yesterday – the most gorgeous I've seen in years. How can it go from glorious sunshine to thunder and lightning so quickly?"

"We do live in England, Milady," Anna replied. "You must remember that we talk about tea and the weather for a reason!" This made Mary laugh. Anna and Mary dressed as they normally would on a normal morning, but instead of the normal chat about what everything's like downstairs and how terrible the weather is, the two of them talked solely about Mary and her baby.

Once they'd both finished, Mary headed downstairs to have breakfast, which was unusual as she normally had breakfast in bed. She had promised Isobel a few weeks previously that they would meet in Ripon in the early morning to talk about some things that Mary wasn't sure she could help much with, but that Isobel needed to get out in the open. Of course, Isobel could have chosen to talk to Violet or Cora, but she never got on with either of them particularly well for any discernible length of time. Her next option was her son, but she couldn't speak to him for long without him interrupting, correcting her or reprimanding her, so she had decided that her safest bet was her daughter-in-law. Mary didn't mind. She always liked getting out of the house, but looking out of the window, past her sister, at breakfast, she had decided that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to get out of the house in this weather. "Darling, do you think your mother would mind if I were to ring her and see if I could go there or she could come here, rather than meeting half-way and getting drenched?" Mary asked, aimed at Matthew. He replied,

"No, she'd be fine with it. She doesn't always share the same opinions as me, but that doesn't mean she's totally unreasonable. Do you want me to come with you to mother's?"

"No, no. I'll be fine. I can get the chauffer to take me in the car, can't I? And the car will shelter me from getting drenched. And I'll take an umbrella to cover myself from the car to her front door. Don't worry, Matthew, I _do_ know how to look after myself, despite how little faith you have in me!" Matthew simply looked at her as if to say, _Well, I'm so sorry for trying to protect my beautiful wife, I hope one day you'll forgive me..._ Mary continued talking, almost ignoring Matthew, apart from a hand placed on his, "And maybe it'd be more convenient for her if she came here. We won't know until I ring her."

"Well, in that case I'll ring her after breakfast," Matthew said. Mary smiled at him, thinking to herself that if Matthew was planning on being this protective for the rest of Mary's pregnancy, then she wouldn't be able to get anywhere until their child was born. The lot of them finished breakfast and Mary went to read a book in the library, whilst Robert did some work in there and Matthew went to ring his mother. Mary was reading _Pride and Prejudice_ by Jane Austen. She'd read it innumerous times and had loved it since she was young. Each time she read it, she loved it slightly more than the time before. She knew the story in detail and had read the book so many times that she could now read it in no time at all, as there was barely any new information to take in from it. She and Robert were quiet together and the only noise they could hear was the rain against the window of the great room. It was evident that every member of the family was in a glum mood – or at least compared to the day before they were in a glum mood. Sunshine always makes everyone happier than they would be without the sun. But the rain provided a nice background noise. It was better than silence could ever be, but then Isis came in, bouncing about, and not long after she was followed by Tom, who had his daughter perched on his hip.

"Hello, Sybbie!" Mary said, looking over her shoulder to see her niece smiling and putting her hand out, reaching for Mary. Tom went to sit down next to Mary with his daughter on his lap. She then promptly crawled her way onto Mary's lap. Mary put her book down and let Sybbie stay for as long as she wanted to. Mary then started to recite _The Owl and the Pussy-Cat_ by Edward Lear – which had been her favourite poem for as long as she could remember,

"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea  
In a beautiful pea green boat,  
They took some honey and plenty of money,  
Wrapped up in a five pound note."

Tom began to join in, as, although he never knew the poem as a child, he had learnt it from listening to Mary recite it to Sybbie,

"The Owl looked up at the stars above,  
And sang to a small guitar,  
'O lovely Pussy, O Pussy my love,  
What a wonderful Pussy you are,  
You are,  
You are!  
What a wonderful Pussy you are!'

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!  
How charmingly sweet you sing!  
O let us be married! Too long we have tarried:  
But what shall we do for a ring?'"

Robert then stopped working and joined in too, making his way over to sit on the other side of Mary,

"They sailed away for a year and a day,  
To the land where the Bong-tree grows,  
And there in the wood, a Piggy-wig stood,  
With a ring at the end of his nose,  
His nose,  
His nose,  
With a ring at the end of his nose.

'Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling,  
Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'  
So they took it away and were married next day,  
By the turkey who lives on the hill.  
They dined on mince and slices of quince,  
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;  
And hand in hand on the edge of the sand,  
They danced by the light of the moon,  
The moon,  
The moon,  
They danced by the light of the moon." Sybbie laughed at her father, aunt and grandfather, which made all three of them smile. Matthew then came in, as if on cue, and saw that Sybbie was having a great time and smiled at her, leaning on the back of the sofa.

"Hello, little one!" Matthew said, "Are you having fun there?" Mary turned her head at the sound of Matthew's voice and he kissed her cheek. "Mother said she's coming down with something and she'd rather avoid having you catch it – whatever it is, so she's said to leave the whole thing and not bother, because, I quote, _'It's not that important, and Mary won't mind'_."

"That's fine," Mary replied, "It's not great weather, so I don't mind staying here all day." As she finished her sentence there was a strike of lightning and a little thunder, which made Isis bring her tail between her legs and made Sybbie reach for her father again. Tom took his daughter and said,

"It's not that bad, darling. Thunder and lightning isn't too terrifying. I've seen much worse, you know."

Later on that day, Mary was in the drawing room, trying to fix a tapestry she'd almost completely ruined when she was sixteen and had only recently dug up again. It seemed to her quite a simple one, and now – all these years later – she couldn't fathom how she'd managed to make it go so wrong over ten years ago. Edith was in the drawing room writing a letter to an old friend of hers and asked Mary, "Was it _The Owl and the Pussy Cat_ I heard you reciting earlier?"

"Yes, indeed it was. I was reciting it to Sybbie with Tom and Papa."

"I remember when you loved that poem more than anything," Edith said, thinking back to her childhood.

"I still do love it. Perhaps not more than anything – not now that I have Matthew, but it's not far off!" Edith laughed to herself.

"What are you doing there, anyway?" Edith asked, looking at Mary's tapestry.

"I started this years ago and I wrecked it, but the other day I dug it up, so now I'm trying to make it look presentable so that I can finish it."

"I never was any good at tapestry," Edith remarked, admiring the way her sister could keep concentration for so long on something that always seemed ever so slightly hopeless to Edith.

"I know. We have more unfinished tapestries and cross-stitches of yours and mine than we do finished ones!" Mary said with a smile. "Why don't you try to finish some?"

"Because I'm hopeless at tapestry! I never follow the pattern as I should and then when I go wrong I get cross with myself or with the tapestry or with somebody else in the room, so it's better for everyone if I stay away from tapestries, really." Matthew then walked in and informed both ladies that he was heading over to his mother's house for the afternoon.

"I thought she was coming down with something and she didn't want me to catch anything?"

"Yes, but she's said she wants to speak to me about something or other. I'm not sure what and I'm not looking forward to it, but I don't feel I can lie to her and say I'm busy. She'd just make me see her tomorrow anyway," Matthew said, feeling slightly sorry for himself.

"Well, I don't envy you!" Mary replied, as Matthew left the room and she got on with her tapestry.

* * *

_So, here's the next chapter. As per usual, sorry for the wait. I'm not sure this chapter is as good as previous ones, but this is what you've got. Please comment if you have a spare moment. For me, 'The Owl and the Pussy Cat' is the best poem for all ages. I based an English controlled assessment in school on it, because if I had to describe my childhood in a poem, I'd describe it with this poem. It's such a brilliant poem and I hope you all like it too._


End file.
